The Battle of the Marne (1914) and its consequences. The second battle on the Marne (1918)

The River Marne witnessed two decisive battles of the First World War. The Battle of the Marne, which occurred in 1914, was one of the most bloody battles in the history of wars. There are countless lives in the valleys of this river. Here the fate of mankind was decided. The Battle of Marne 1914 is briefly described in every history textbook.

The Battle of the River Marne: Prerequisites

In 1914 the First World War began. This year was remembered by the most fierce battles. Maneuvers occurred almost every week. For one day, the front could have changed by 50 kilometers. Initially, none of the countries planned a protracted war. The directives of the General Staffs suggested rapid offensive operations. The German Empire planned to end the war in a few months and establish a new world order in which it would occupy a key place.

France was not considered a serious opponent. Its occupation was supposed to take no more than a month. The Germans hoped to quickly capture the country before the arrival of the British to help. With the outbreak of hostilities, the German units quickly invaded Belgium and took it. The French army did not manage to create serious defensive structures. Therefore, by the beginning of the autumn, the Germans had come very close to Paris.

Condition of the parties

The units under the command of Alexander von Kluk stretched out on a fairly long section of the front. The command of the German units developed a plan for the encirclement of most of the French forces. Depart from the original plan for the capture of Paris by the Germans forced the sudden arrival of the British.

In accordance with the plan, the Germans had to pass west of Paris, without engaging in combat with the units concentrated there for the defense of the city. After that, the "wedges" of the fronts would close in the deep rear, completely taking the French into a giant cauldron. But the original strategy has undergone many significant changes, as sweeping away the enemy's defense, the German units are exhausted and could not quickly regroup for a powerful blow. The exhausted German army lost its reserves, as bloody battles began in Prussia. Therefore, the commander von Klyuk made a proposal to turn not to the West, but to the East from Paris, in order to defeat the French army on a narrower section. In early September, the British units flew to the river Marne. Crossing it, they continued to retreat to the east.

The Germans who pursued them were able to enter the gap between the British and French armies, thus stretching out and opening the flank. The battle on the Marne was to begin from day to day, all the attention of the staffs was riveted precisely to this site.

The beginning of the battle

On September 5, the Germans continued their advance in the eastern direction. At this time, the French command after long disputes decided to launch a counteroffensive. The 1st German Army remained without a cover, so the British and the French struck them in the flank, while the 6th Monument Army from Paris acted simultaneously. To help the rear Kluk sends out considerable forces from the mouth of the river.

Crucial moment

The Battle of the River Marne (1914) took the most fierce turn on September 6. Fierce clashes began on all sectors of the front. At the mouth of the Marne, the British and the French struck a narrow section on two German armies. In the swampy terrain, the 2nd and 3rd German armies opposed the 9th Allied Army. The fighting lasted almost all day. Artillery beat on the enemy immediately before the attack, which was fraught with fire in its. The defensive structures were natural ledges, there was simply no time to dig trenches. Bayonet attacks were replaced by quick maneuvers. By the end of the day the Germans managed to break the resistance. The French trembled and were almost completely demoralized. Monory understood the danger of the situation and the need for an urgent introduction of reserves. The Moroccan division was a lifeline for the French. She arrived in the capital two days after the start of the battle. She was immediately sent to the front. In the confusion for the transfer of one part, the railway was used. The other one came to the river in a very unusual way. For its transfer, civilian taxis were used. 600 cars later received the name of the people "marinsky taxi."

The battle on the Marne did not bode well for the Allies. But the sudden arrival of the Moroccan division managed to stop the German attack. In order to finally break the resistance of the French, von Kluck threw a few more pieces from Marna. On the river, the rear of the German formations was left without protection. This immediately took advantage of the British and dealt a serious blow. German connections were thrown back and retreated. The battle on the Marne (1914) is briefly described in the memoirs of von Bülow. In 4 years he will get a chance to get even for the defeat.

Consequences of the Battle of the Marne

The battle on the Marne ended on September 12. Beyond Paris, the Germans dealt a serious blow and took the left flank of the French into a solid ring. But the successes of the Allies on the Marne forced von Bülow to start a retreat. Such maneuvers, among other things, had an important psychological factor. The German soldiers were extremely exhausted and could no longer offer serious resistance. Numerous testimonies state that the Allies found German soldiers sleeping with fatigue.

The battle on the Marne took more than 150 thousand lives and changed the course of the World War II. The plans of the Germans for a quick offensive had failed. The exhausting phase of the positional permanent war began, in which mobilization of all the resources of the parties involved was required.

Second Battle of the Marne: World War I

In the summer of 1918, four years after the first battle, fierce battles broke out on the Marne again. The Germans planned to launch an offensive on this section of the front to smash the British Expeditionary Force. On July 15, the German units, under the command of the same Byulov, struck the French on the east of Reims. Their attack was repulsed until the end of the day. American and Italian units came to the rescue and began to press the Germans north. The defeat of the German troops marked the beginning of a series of major Allied operations, which resulted in the end of the First World War. The second battle on the Marne killed some 160,000 soldiers. Fritz von Bulow never managed to seize the river.